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Supporters of “don't ask, don't tell” repeal in the current lame-duck session of Congress were dealt a major blow Thursday when the U.S. Senate failed to move forward on the national defense bill. The vote to proceed to debate on the defense bill, of which DADT repeal is a component, was 57-40 —three votes shy of the 60 votes that Democrats needed. Though Republican senator Susan Collins of Maine voted to support moving forward on the defense bill, no Republicans colleague followed suit. Senators crucial to repeal voted No, including senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Scott Brown of Massachusetts, and Olympia Snowe of Maine. The failed vote comes after intense negotiations in the senate, where independent Sen. Joe Lieberman served as a de facto intermediary between Democratic Senate majority leader Reid and Collins, who supports the repeal of “don't ask, don't tell” but urged a “fair and open” process for the Defense Authorization spending bill. On Wednesday evening, Reid had postponed a full vote in the Senate on the bill that includes language to repeal the military's ban on openly gay and lesbian troops. Reid on Thursday criticized Republican opposition to moving ahead on the defense bill as harmful not only to DADT repeal, but to the armed forces as a whole. “Despite the critical importance for our troops, for our nation, and for justice that we get this bill done, we have not been able to reach an agreement,” Reid said earlier this afternoon. “And I regret to say that it is our troops who will pay the price for our inability to overcome partisan political posturing.” Update: Servicemembers United executive director Alex Nicholson called on Congress to pass DADT repeal as a stand-alone bill, issuing the following statement after the vote: “This was a major failure on the part of the Senate to simply do its job and pass an annual defense authorization bill. Politics prevailed over responsibility today, and now more than one million American servicemembers, including tens of thousands of gay and lesbian troops, are worse off as a result. “Since the votes are there in isolation, the Senate should still consider a stand-alone bill to repeal the 'don't ask, don't tell' law before adjourning for the winter holidays,” Nicholson said. added by: TimALoftis